Howard R

I once killed a Panther with 81mm mortar fire. Dropped a shell right into the open turret on the first salvo! I watched the replay from all over the place. Most enjoyable moment I've had playing CMBO. Every other moment has been great, but not quite so good as that.

If you can, mount a MG tean or two on a vehicle. Clear a path with infantry and then bring the MGs forward on the vehicle. They can provide suppressing fire first, then mount, if you feel the need. Best to ue them on the flanks, if possible, although a couple of MGs and a platoon of good infantry makes a tough nut for the enemy in the center, too. As for the PFs, well, imagine the nerve it must have taken to be 30-50 yards from a fire spitting steel monster and then to RAISE UP, AIM, and FIRE a Panzerfaust. Nice to know that they are there, don't count on them.

I have found the "hunt" command to be effective only if my armor is on top of a hill. They usually stop in hull down to engage the enemy that way. With inferior armor it is important to get the first shot, and that means intel, intel, intel. This is where ACs and Recon vehicles are so useful. The 37mm and 50mm AC cannon can destrpy most vehicles with side and rear shots, so be sneaky. Spot the other guy with Recon. Another aspect to this discussion is your current tactics that result in the loss of your tanks-I read somewhere (age is destroying what was left of my mind) this theory- use your tanks against his infantry. Use your infantry against his anti-tank weapons. Use your anti-tank weapons against his tanks. I mean, any variant of the Sherman head to head with a Panther, Tiger, etc. is going to lose. A German tank commander is said to have observed: "One of our tanks could easily defeat ten of yours. But you always had eleven!"

I generally use light armor and recon assets in a similar manner. I will usually keep the true recon vehicles toward the rear early in a game, but somewhere with good ines of sight. They will usually spot and identify something before either being killed or retreating out of the line of fire. often, they can identify an good enemy unit before they have even been spotted. i will almost always select at least one recon vehicle and one armored car (37mm or better, only). the armored cars can come in very handy when fighting enemy ight armor and halftracks. An american M8 AC can take down a German halftrack (and its MG42) from 800-1000 meters, and can kill mst German armor with a side or rear shot (which they can occaisionally get when the German tank is otherwise occupied and the hatch is closed). just my buck and a quarter on the topic

I agree that suppression is very important when assaulting a town. If the other guy's head is down, he is not returning fire. Isolate the area you intend to assault with machine guns or vehicles-try not to let the other guy re-inforce the area you are assaulting. Beat the snot out of them with HE of any kind. Actually, when assaulting small towns, I have found that 81mm mortar fire will keep their heads down and allow me to advance to the edge of town (usually just as I'm running out of ammo.) If there is a little ammo left, switch to smoke to provide some close cover. When you go to jump a position and secure it in close combat, don't be half-hearted. Send in many, good troops. And remember the first rule of infantry combat-don't run across open ground in the face of enemy automatic weapons fire! Good luck!

I have a high member number, but i'm not a newbie. I'd been looking for something like this for years. i started out playing Squad Leader back in the late '70s, and stuck with that until the system got just too hard. I was playing with a group of guys in about 1990, we played for 6 hours, and completed 1/2 of a turn! i bought a computer about 3 days later. i love CMBO, but ration my time (now). I have this wife and this job, see, and not sleeping was beginning to wear thin. When I get CMBB I;ll have about a month without much sleep again, and then slowly wean myself off. Maybe rehab or something. I also just got a cable modem, so I'm gonna try tcp/ip sometime soon. Welcome to the brave new world of gaming, newbies! Your life will never be the same.

Any French (designed and manufactured) tank. i think we are losing sight of the role of the tank to some degree. i like the M4 series for anti-infantry and anti light armor duty. I have always thought of this way- Tanks fight infantry. Infantry fights anti-tank weapons. Anti-tank weapons fight tanks. Which assumes a perfect world. Wait, what do you mean "it isn't?"

A later model Panther. Fast, slightly reliable, powerful, heavy. That said, a T34/85 is also pretty cool. oh, and as to the Stug thing-used properly they are plenty good. Best to keep them far away, and use as a TD or to bombard static infantry.

I've been playing CMBO for a couple of years, nd started out with Squad Leader in the late '70s. It takes a while to really get the hang of the tactics. You'll lose big time a few times, and then try something newl and suddenly not be losing. The demos for CMBB are not representative of the included scenarios. They are also not as good and the CMBO demo scenarios from a few years ago. I was hooked after the first demo game I played, and ordered about ann hour after completing the download.